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Now, the VOA Special English |
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program, Words and Their Stories. |
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Green is an important color |
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in nature. |
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It is the color of grass |
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and the leaves on trees. |
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It is also the color |
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of most growing plants. |
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Sometimes, the word green |
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means young, fresh and growing. |
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Sometimes, it describes |
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something that is not yet |
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ripe or finished. |
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For example, a greenhorn |
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is someone who has no expereince, |
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who is new to a situation. |
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In the fifteenth century, |
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a greenhorn was a young cow |
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or ox whose horns |
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had not yet developed. |
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A century or so later, |
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a greenhorn was a soldier |
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who had not yet had |
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any experience in battle. |
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By the eighteenth century, |
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a greenhorn had the meaning |
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it has today |
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- a person who is new in a job. |
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About one hundred years ago, |
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greenhorn was a popular expression |
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in the American west. |
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Old-timers used it to describe |
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a man who had just arrived |
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from one of the big cities back east. |
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The greenhorn lacked the skills |
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he would need to live |
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in the hard, rough country. |
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Someone who has the ability |
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to grow plants well is said |
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to have a green thumb. |
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The expression comes from |
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the early nineteen hundreds. |
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A person with a green thumb |
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seems to have a magic touch |
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that makes plants grow quickly and well. |
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You might say that the woman |
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next door has a green thumb |
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if her garden continues to grow long |
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after your plants have died. |
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The Green Revolution is the name |
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given some years ago to the development |
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of new kinds of rice and other grains. |
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The new plants produced |
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much larger crops. |
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The Green Revolution |
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was the result of hard work |
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by agricultural scientists |
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who had green thumbs. |
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Green is also the color |
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used to describe |
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the powerful emotion, jealousy. |
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The green-eyed monster |
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is not a frightening creature |
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from outer space. |
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It is an expression used |
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about four hundred years ago |
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by British writer William Shakespeare |
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in his play "Othello." |
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It describes the unplesant |
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feeling a person has when someone |
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has something he wants. |
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A young man may suffer from |
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the green-eyed monster |
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if his girlfriend begins going out |
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with someone else. |
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Or, that green-eyed monster |
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may affect your friend if you |
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get a pay raise and she does not. |
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In most places in the world, |
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a green light is a signal |
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to move ahead. |
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A green light on a traffic signal |
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means your car can continue on. |
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In everyday speech, |
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a green light means approval |
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to continue with a project. |
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We want you to know |
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we have a green light to |
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continue this series next week. |
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(MUSIC) |
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This VOA Special English program, |
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Words and Their Stories, |
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was written by Marilyn Christiano. |
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I'm Warren Scheer. |
